Bask in the Sun
by Conflate
Summary: His happiness is contagious, warm, and loving; it's Aomine's favourite kind of happiness, one he wants to feel every day when he wakes up and every night before he goes to sleep. On days it makes him feel like a kitten, dozing off due to the warmth it provides. Before long Aomine realizes he truly is a panther basking in the warmth of the sun.


"Is it done _yet?_" Aomine groans out, arm having fallen asleep. It feels as if _hours_ have passed since he allowed Kise to take a pen to his exposed limb. They had spent a majority of the day outside; they went for a walk, played some basketball, lay in grass watching clouds. Aomine even fell asleep beneath the warmth of the sun, his fingers just intertwined with Kise's. Due to this exposure, the freckles which are normally faded into his tanned skin became far more prominent.

Kise _loves_ Aomine's freckles, almost as much as he loves his dimples. _Almost_. The over energetic blond always insists on going out when the sun is shining, figuring Aomine won't know what he's up to. Aomine knows though, he always knew. Kise was never the subtle type. He's made it very clear just how attractive he finds Aomine's freckles to be, and somehow Aomine allowed himself to fall under the blond's perfected pout and puppy dog eyes. Kise always seems to win their disputes; _always_. The second his lower lip juts out and begins trembling, Aomine knows he'll be a goner.

That's how he found himself sitting on their bed, Kise with his back turned to him and Aomine's arm in his lap, hidden from view. Kise has insisted on letting him playing connect the dots between Aomine's freckles, but what started out as a simple game turned into a fairly detailed design that wrapped around the tanned male's forearm.

Recently, Kise had taken up drawing and discovered it came like second nature to him. It wasn't that much of a shock though, given that he was Kise Ryouta and he managed to master everything that didn't pertain to his grades. Papers filled to the corners were scattered all around their apartment. Some, the ones Kise was more proud of, ended up on the fridge. Aomine found it not only childish, but incredibly adorable, and didn't have the heart to tear them down whenever Kise would come home with an abundance of magnets and a smile plastered across his lips.

"I'll give you a kiss for every minute you don't look and stop complaining," Kise offers, glancing over his shoulder to offer the impatient and antsy male a tender smile.

"Okay, fine. Wait... Every _minute_? Just how long do you plan on drawing on my arm?" Aomine throws back, tempted to pull away then and there.

"It's not a drawing, Aominecchi. It's _art_."

"Okay, _fine_," Aomine repeats. It's times like this where he would cross his arms over his chest like the uninterested boyfriend he pretends to be, but seeing as one of his arms is being held captive, it's pointless. Instead, he sits with his brows pinched and a scowl on his lips.

At this point, Kise's eyes are still on Aomine, and when he sees him acting like a disappointed child, he can't help but chuckle. Twisting his torso while still keeping Aomine's arm hidden, he leans in and presses a soft kiss to his lips. It's chaste and loving, and when Kise pulls back, Aomine finds himself holding back from chasing after those inviting lips.

"That's a preview for what's in store if you behave," he teases before turning back to his canvas.

Giving in, Aomine requests to lay down as Kise keeps working. So, after they shuffle around on the bed and Aomine's resting up against a mound of Kise's pillows, the blond goes back to work. Aomine begins dozing back off as the tip of the pen gently glides across his skin, and he pictures what it must look like, given how focused Kise looks and how he always gives his all in everything he does.

A small smile raises on Aomine's lips as images of Kise's face flash across his closed lids. Though he has never stated it verbally, Aomine has always been proud of Kise; the blond never gives up and takes on any hurdle in his way. The fact that he puts forth so much effort into everything and _knows_ he can do anything if he sets his mind to it is something Aomine wishes he could accomplish.

Completely relaxed, Aomine nods off and is waken up around an hour later to a pair of full lips being pressed against his. A hum vibrates his throat to life in his throat and the corners of his lips curl upwards as he raises a hand in order to tangle his fingers in a mess of blond hair. He pulls Kise down closer and can feel him smiling into the kiss. A musical laugh fills the room and welcomes itself upon Aomine's ears, causing him to sigh in content. Slowly, his eyes open and he's met with this love-struck gaze of his boyfriend.

"What's that look for?" he questions, trying to make it sound as if he's disgusted by how _blissful_ Kise looks in that moment, but he's betrayed by his rapidly beating heart and heating cheeks.

"I'm done," Kise whispers, words vibrating against Aomine's lips before he pulls back and laughs as Aomine's brows go right back to crinkling in disappointment. "You can look now."

Attempting to blink away his tiredness, Aomine yawns and wraps his opposite arm around Kise's waist in order to pull himself up into a sitting position. Stealing one last kiss before turning his attention towards his arm, he can feel Kise practically _buzzing_ from excitement.

"Calm down, pretty boy," Aomine yawns with a subtle smirk. "Can't have my boyfriend blasting off into space or anything. Do I have to tie a string around you?" He keeps his arm around Kise's waist as if to prove his point, tightening his hold before opening his eyes completely and looking down.

The breath is nearly knocked out of him and he finds himself being rendered speechless. It's nothing more than several simple doodles, mainly consisting of spirals, floral looking designs, and various other patterns, but the way Kise fit it all together makes it look _stunning_. It's almost as beautiful as the artist himself. When Aomine looks back up, jaw hanging, he notices there's a light blush dusting over Kise's cheeks and burning his ears bright red.

"Do you like it?" the blond asks, and Aomine can tell that he's biting the inside of his cheek – a habit he had picked up over the years and something Aomine became accustom to seeing whenever Kise was nervous. In hopes to ease his nerves, Aomine leans in and kisses him. It's soft and sweet, like the kisses they shared when they first started dating. Kise's smiling – _beaming_ – into it again, Aomine can tell, and it causes him to smile in return. The arm wrapped around Kise's waist tugs him into his lap, and before he knows it, Kise's straddling him. When they pull back, Aomine feels as if the sun is shining from behind his boyfriend's eyes. He'd never seen Kise happier and it makes his heart swell and feel as if it's going to burst from his chest.

"It looks really good," he finally admits, nose playfully bumping into Kise's. "I like it a lot."

With his simple confession, Aomine's knocked onto his back, accepting the multitude of kisses Kise's pressing to his lips. At first they're excited, like an overjoyed puppy trying to prove it's affection to it's owner. However, as time passes, the kisses become slower, like they're trying to memorize the spaces of each other's mouths that haven't already burned into their memories. They're acting like high schoolers all over again, attempting to kiss each other breathless before laying there, admiring each other's flushed, smiling faces.

"God, you're so beautiful," Aomine says, shameless when it comes to praising his boyfriend.

Though he's grown used to having others compliment his appearance, Kise is still weak when it comes to Aomine. His face is covered within seconds and he's hiding a smile as wide as the Nile is long. Aomine noses at Kise's hands, attempting to get him to lower his hands. He's smiling, dimples appearing ultimately proving how utterly in love he is with the idiotic blond hiding behind his hands. With a few more nudges and whispered words shared between them, Kise finally caves and lowers his hands, accepting Aomine's lips upon his own and kissing him until he feels like he needs to be tied down so he doesn't float off.

[break]

"Say, Kise. I've been wondering…" Aomine muses as Kise looks up from whatever magazine he's inspecting from the other end of the coach.

"Yeah, what is it?" he hums in response, flipping a page and giving it a once over before directing his attention back to his boyfriend.

Aomine's eyes are on his forearm; he's turning it over, examining the entire expanse of skin. It's been nearly a month since Kise had turned his arm into a masterpiece and the image never fully left Aomine's memory. He's in his own little world when he hears Kise calling out to him, asking if he's sick and when Aomine finally looks up he laughs as Kise's brows are furrowed together in worry.

"That look doesn't suite you," he says before reaching out and taking hold of Kise's wrist so he can bring him into his lap. "Don't make that face too often, or else it'll get stuck." He's pressing a kiss to Kise's cheek and the blond is protesting, something along the lines of how he's not Aomine and he'll never allow for such a thing to happen.

"Anyway, what's on your mind?" Kise asks once they're curled into one another, his head on Aomine's shoulder as their fingers lay entwined in the blond's lap.

"I've been thinking about how you drew on my arm a lot lately. You remember that right?"

Kise raises his head in order to give Aomine a look that screams '_How could I forget?'_ before nodding his head once. Grunting, the tanned male pulls his hand out from the tangled mess that made of their fingers in order to grip at Kise's nose. It's not until the blond is crying uncle that Aomine releases it. Despite how disgruntled Kise now looks, Aomine can't help but snort and shake his head.

"Well anyway, I was wondering what it'd be like if I were to get a tattoo. I've been thinking about it a lot, and I was wondering if you'd be willing to draw something up for me. You know, design something? It doesn't have to be anything spectacular. I just think you're really talented and if you were to think of something, I'd really like to…"

His sentence fades as he finally holds Kise's gaze and sees his eyes glazing over. He makes a noise that sounds like something between a cry and a groan as he questions him.

"Are you crying?"

"No! It's just… You really think I'm that talented? I mean… Tattoos are permanent, you know," he states with a weak chuckle. "You'd really consider doing that?"

Aomine nods, almost regretting bringing the matter up before he feels Kise's arms wrapping around his neck. With their chests now pressing against one another, he can feel the rapid beating of Kise's heart – probably from excitement. His arms find themselves wrapping around Kise's waist in response, and it takes a minute, but he finally finds his voice.

"Yeah of course. I mean, if it's you designing it, then I wouldn't mind."

Pulling back, Kise beams across at him before taking his face in his hands and caressing his lips with his own.

[break]

Kise's sitting beside Aomine as the tattoo artist is inking up his skin. Though Aomine had been playing it off as no big deal, something he could handle, Kise lost count of the times he lost feeling in his hand from how hard Aomine had been squeezing it.

"It'll be fine, Aominecchi. Just relax."

Aomine shoots him a glare that warns him to shut up and Kise's quick to zip his lips before pretending to lock them and throw the key over his shoulder. The way Aomine rolls his eyes and scoffs as if Kise's nothing more than a child earns him a chuckle. Kise's eyes are examining the room before landing on the paper aligned by Aomine's forearm. On it, there's a detailed sketch of a panther that stretches the length of his forearm. It's tail long enough to wrap around Aomine's arm. They had spent _hours_ figuring out what would look best and what would make Aomine look good. Kise figured they could tattoo a pink flower to Aomine's arm and he'd be able to pull it off, but the tanned male wasn't on board. They came to an agreement on a panther. Kise figured because it was a rather intimidating cat, but Aomine concluded that it was because it "looked cool."

Kise's in his own little world when a rather painful squeeze engulfs his hand, crushing his fingers. He winces, but pretends it hadn't hurt that bad. His legs are crossed, his hand supporting his chin and his elbow resides on his knee. It's been a few hours, and the longer Kise sits there watching his masterpiece come to life, the more excited he becomes. He's biting on his lower lip to keep a smile from appearing.

A tap on his shoulder interrupts him as he's leaning in closer to admire Aomine's tattoo. Looking over his shoulder, another tattoo artist is standing behind him, carrying a few pieces of paper. Confused, Kise raises a brow and before he can question the artist, he speaks up.

"You're Kise Ryouta, right?"

Nodding is the only response Kise has time to give him before the other continues speaking.

"Alright, says here you're receiving a tattoo today as well. Would you mind coming with me?"

It's as if Kise's entire body shuts down at what he's hearing. He can feel Aomine squeezing his hand, but his brain feels empty.

"Excuse me, but I never signed for anything like that."

"I have your signature right here," the other retorts, handing it over to him for him to see. Kise takes it and looks it over, eyes wide because sure enough there it is. He's more than confused at this point, and it's when he hears Aomine laughing that he looks over his shoulder with wide, fearful eyes.

"I snagged your signature when you were half asleep. Told you it was an autograph for one of my friends. I'd never seen anyone grab a pen and sign so quickly in my life," the tanned male laughs, receiving a scolding from the artist working on him for moving. Biting his tongue, Aomine squeezes his hand again and smiles more softly.

The artist behind Kise says that he'll give a full refund if he doesn't want the tattoo, and as Kise looks down at the hand he's been holding for the past few hours, he signs and lets it go.

"It's fine," he states, returning Aomine's smile before spinning in his seat. "If it's him, I trust him."

He stands after wishing Aomine good luck and follows after the tattoo artist as he leads him to another room.

[break]

Kise's back to sitting by Aomine's side within half an hour. There's a pout present on his lips and Aomine merely sits there laughing at how upset he looks.

"Why'd you tell him I can't look at it yet?" he grumbles under his breath, arms crossed over his chest. He figures he looks like a child that didn't receive what they wanted on Christmas, but he doesn't care, not even when the tattoo artist working on Aomine begins laughing. Given that the tattoo Aomine ordered for Kise was placed behind his ear, it makes it rather difficult to examine without help.

"I'll give you a kiss for every minute you don't look and stop complaining," Aomine says, earning a groan from Kise, because how dare he use his own statement from when he was drawing against him.

Kise spends the next hour tapping his foot until Aomine's finished. By that time, he's bouncing in his seat.

"Can I look _now?_" he asks, but when Aomine shakes his head his excitement dies and all bouncing ceases.

"You said you trusted me, right? Just wait until we get home and don't try sneaking your phone out and taking a picture, because I'll hold you in a headlock for a week."

After tipping both the artists, allowing them to photograph both tattoos for reference, and then learning how to properly care for their new additions, the couple walks out and begins heading home. It's silent, mainly because Kise's still pouting and Aomine doesn't want to make matters worse. He does take a risk by wiggling his fingers between Kise's, and he lets out a quiet sigh when the other grips onto his hand, face turned away.

They make it home within twenty minutes and Kise quickly rips off his jacket and turns to Aomine, fairly expectant.

"Okay _okay_," Aomine caves before taking off his own jacket and hanging it beside Kise's. "Let me take a picture first. You'll be able to see it better that way."

From his back pocket, he pulls out the device. He opens the camera slowly, earning various groans and whimpers of disapproval from his boyfriend. Taking Kise by the arm, he pulls him close and brushes a few silky hair out of the way. Aomine's heart skips a beat and a smile spreads across his lips as he snaps a picture, pocketing his phone once again. Taking Kise by the hand, he then leads him over to the couch where he sits and pulls the blond into his lap. They sit there for a few minutes, Aomine trying to figure out what exactly it is he wants to say and when he looks up, Kise's eyes are on his face, trying to figure out for himself what Aomine's holding back.

"I figured you wouldn't agree to a tattoo unless I were to figure out some way to already have the papers signed beforehand. I picked them up at the beginning of the week and made sure I had plenty of time to get you to sign them before we ended up there. I was actually surprised to hear you agree to get one considering you had no prior knowledge of it or what is was… It actually makes me kind of happy you trust me this much."

He pauses to laugh at Kise muttering about not wanting him to bring up the whole "trust" scene. Leaning up, he kisses his boyfriend's lips before pulling out his phone and opening the picture he took a few minutes prior. Kise falls quiet as he takes the device and holds it close to his face, trying to figure out what exactly he's looking at.

"Is this a sun?" he asks, turning his gaze from the screen to Aomine's face.

Aomine rests his chin atop the blond's shoulder, his eyes settling upon the tattoo Kise's currently looking at on his phone.

"Yeah, it is. I figured since you're such a hotshot and everything, you wouldn't want something noticeable, so I want with behind the ear. This way it's something that can be kept a secret between us. You're my sunshine, you…"

The words he had spent all week practicing are cut off as Kise's kissing him. There's laughter bubbling out of Kise's mouth and given how contagious it is, Aomine's laughing before he knows it as well.

"What's so funny?" he jokes, flicking the blond's earlobe before resting their foreheads together.

"It's not funny it's just… I didn't know how to react," he admits as another chuckle bursts from his pursed lips. "Your sunshine, huh?"

Cheeks now burning, Aomine turns his head so Kise can't see his face and grumbles. "Don't make it a bigger deal than it is, pretty boy. Wouldn't want you burning all the plants because of how hot you think you are."

They sit there cuddling for hours before even thinking about untangling to get dinner. Kise looks ecstatic and oh, too happy. But Aomine doesn't mind. His happiness is contagious, warm, and loving; it's Aomine's favourite kind of happiness, one he wants to feel every day when he wakes up and every night before he goes to sleep. On days it makes him feel like a kitten, dozing off due to the warmth it provides.

Before long Aomine realizes he truly is a panther basking in the warmth of the sun.


End file.
